Posted on Aug 27, 2022
Children's hospitals are the latest target of anti-LGBTQ harassment
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https://www.npr.org/2022/08/26/ [login to see] /childrens-hospitals-are-the-latest-target-of-anti-lgbtq-harassment
Hospitals and doctors around the country are facing harassment and even death threats over the medical care they offer to transgender kids. In many cases, they have been the subject of posts by a Twitter account called Libs of TikTok, as well as stories in conservative media outlets casting gender-affirming care as child abuse and mutilation.
Which raises the question: where should social networks draw the line with accounts promoting narratives that spark harassment campaigns on their platforms and beyond?
Hospitals and doctors around the country are facing harassment and even death threats over the medical care they offer to transgender kids. In many cases, they have been the subject of posts by a Twitter account called Libs of TikTok, as well as stories in conservative media outlets casting gender-affirming care as child abuse and mutilation.
Which raises the question: where should social networks draw the line with accounts promoting narratives that spark harassment campaigns on their platforms and beyond?
Children's hospitals are the latest target of anti-LGBTQ harassment
Posted from npr.org
Children
Medical
Health
LGBTQ+
Transgender
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Right-wing groups target LGBTQ events, education and healthcare
Pediatricians and children's hospitals are just the latest targets of right-wing outrage, in a new iteration of decades-old smears of gay, lesbian and transgender people as pedophiles or "groomers."
"The Libs of TikTok account has been a major actor in driving a lot of the harassment campaigns that we've seen over the past year," said Ari Drennen, LGBTQ program director at Media Matters for America, the liberal advocacy group.
In some cases, events and figures publicized by Libs of TikTok have been targeted offline by far-right extremists known for brawling.
On a single day this summer, for example, men with ties to the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested outside a Pride event in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, and alleged members of the far-right Proud Boys crashed a drag queen story hour at a library in San Lorenzo, Calif. Libs of TikTok had tweeted about both events, although there's no conclusive link between the posts and the extremist groups' activities.
As the Washington Post reported in April, the account's subjects and posts are regularly featured and promoted by other conservative influencers and media figures, including podcaster Joe Rogan. Raichik has appeared on Tucker Carlson's prime time Fox News show.
The escalating stigmatization of transgender medical care has doctors worried.
"This is a developmentally appropriate, team-based approach that allows kids time to figure out their identities," said Dr. Goepferd of Children's Minnesota.
Threats to hospitals ripple out, affecting not only hospital staff but also patients and families seeking all kinds of care, as well as longer-term research needed in the field. "I worry that this type of false narrative would make research institutions or funders nervous to fund more research into finding out what is the best possible care we could be providing right now," Goepferd said.
"The fact that somewhere the message has gotten through that it's okay to attack physicians, pediatricians, children's hospitals in this way is just a really disturbing societal trend," they said."
..."Right-wing groups target LGBTQ events, education and healthcare
Pediatricians and children's hospitals are just the latest targets of right-wing outrage, in a new iteration of decades-old smears of gay, lesbian and transgender people as pedophiles or "groomers."
"The Libs of TikTok account has been a major actor in driving a lot of the harassment campaigns that we've seen over the past year," said Ari Drennen, LGBTQ program director at Media Matters for America, the liberal advocacy group.
In some cases, events and figures publicized by Libs of TikTok have been targeted offline by far-right extremists known for brawling.
On a single day this summer, for example, men with ties to the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested outside a Pride event in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, and alleged members of the far-right Proud Boys crashed a drag queen story hour at a library in San Lorenzo, Calif. Libs of TikTok had tweeted about both events, although there's no conclusive link between the posts and the extremist groups' activities.
As the Washington Post reported in April, the account's subjects and posts are regularly featured and promoted by other conservative influencers and media figures, including podcaster Joe Rogan. Raichik has appeared on Tucker Carlson's prime time Fox News show.
The escalating stigmatization of transgender medical care has doctors worried.
"This is a developmentally appropriate, team-based approach that allows kids time to figure out their identities," said Dr. Goepferd of Children's Minnesota.
Threats to hospitals ripple out, affecting not only hospital staff but also patients and families seeking all kinds of care, as well as longer-term research needed in the field. "I worry that this type of false narrative would make research institutions or funders nervous to fund more research into finding out what is the best possible care we could be providing right now," Goepferd said.
"The fact that somewhere the message has gotten through that it's okay to attack physicians, pediatricians, children's hospitals in this way is just a really disturbing societal trend," they said."
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